PRESS RELEASE HENDERSONVILLE WATER/SEWER The water customers of Hendersonville Water and Sewer, in and around the Fletcher area are currently experiencing a low to no pressure condition due to an unscheduled outage that occurred earlier this morning. This loss of pressure was partially due to a broken service connection on the water main between Hendersonville […]
Author: Margaret Williams
Showing 883-903 of 1653 results
EPA adds the CTS of Asheville site to its Superfund roster
Four new Southeast properties have been named Superfund sites by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The CTS of Asheville site off Mills Gap Road is one of them.
Flashback: A little history about timbering in local watersheds
In a March 12 Asheville Citizen-Times article, Rep. Moffitt suggests, “Selective timbering under the auspices of a professional arborist is the best thing for a watershed.” Moffitt chairs a state committee that’s considering stripping the city of Asheville of the water system, creating a new regional authority to own and manage the system, handing it off to the Metropolitan Sewerage District, or leaving things the way they are. Here’s a flashback at the controversy over a late-1980s clear-cutting contract in the 21,000-acre North Fork Reservoir watershed.
(A file photo of clear-cut logging at the North Fork Reservoir in the late 1980s.)
Moffitt committee set to hold third hearing, this one in Raleigh on March 14
On Wednesday, March 14, in Raleigh, the Metropolitan Sewerage/Water System Committee, created and chaired by Rep. Tim Moffitt of Buncombe County, will convene its third hearing on the question of whether to strip the city of Asheville of the water system, create a new regional authority that manage the system or cede it to the […]
WLOS Asheville Firefighters Association launches petition to name bridge for Capt. Bowen
FROM WLOS: The Asheville Fire Fighters Association has launched a social-media petition to convince the North Carolina Department of Transportation to rename the Smokey Park Bridge for Capt. Jeff Bowen, who died last fall in a blaze on Biltmore Avenue. Say tuned for more information about the petition.
Asheville gas prices fall slightly; still higher than last year
PRESS RELEASE FROM GASBUDDY.COM Asheville, March 12- Average retail gasoline prices in Asheville have fallen 0.9 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.76/g yesterday. This compares with the national average that has increased 3.8 cents per gallon in the last week to $3.75/g, according to gasoline price website AshevilleGasPrices.com. Including the change in […]
RiverLink invites participation in WaterRICH programs
PRESS RELEASE FROM RIVERLINK RiverLink’s WaterRICH (Reuse, Infiltration and Conservation at Home) program is making progress: Over the past three months, the local nonprofit has installed a 100-square-foot rain garden and rain barrels for local residents, utilizing the opportunities to train individuals from Green Opportunities Water Team and other groups and indivduals in techniques to […]
Celebrate Arbor Day with Asheville GreenWorks on Saturday, March 17
PRESS RELEASE FROM ASHEVILLE GREENWORKS Asheville is celebrating Arbor Day in conjunction with St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday, March l7 at 11 a.m.. The new Asheville Zipline Canopy Adventures is the site (beside the Crowne Plaza Resort above Sam’s) because it is a new Treasured Tree Preserve. Come out to celebrate Asheville receiving the Tree […]
CTNC donates land to Blue Ridge Parkway
PRESS RELEASE FROM CTNC: A small but critical tract of protected land along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Cumberland Knob is now the property of the National Park Service thanks to a donation by the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, which acquired the land last year. “In times when government has limited resources to protect […]
Create your own tour of North Carolina’s “Hunger Games” filming sites and crew hang-outs
FROM VISITNC.COM: Picture the mountain forest where Katniss and Gale hunted. Imagine the stand of trees that spit fireballs at terrified Tributes. Envision a gleaming city where schemers jerked the reins of power. Makers of the new “The Hunger Games” film … shot their adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ dystopian novel on locations and soundstages across […]
Highland Brewing’s Oscar Wong earns N.C. small-business person of the year award
FROM THE ASHEVILLE CITIZEN-TIMES (Clarke Morrison): “Oscar Wong, a former nuclear plant engineer who opened the city’s first microbrewery [Highland Brewing Co.] in 1995, is North Carolina’s Small Business Person of the Year. …”
DOT committee denies request to rename Smokey Park Bridge for firefighter
FROM WLOS: “The Department of Transportation refuses to name the bridge in … honor [of Capt. Jeff Bowen, who died last year in a Biltmore Avenue blaze], claiming its against policy to rename a bridge after emergency personnel.” Bowen’s widow is fighting the decision, drawing support to get DOT to change the policy. Roadways and […]
State agency’s on the lookout for mountain-trout poachers
Although trout season doesn’t open till April 7, Wildlife Resources Commission officers are on the lookout for mountain-trout poachers, WLOS reports. March “is also prime-time for poachers, who take advantage of the large numbers of fish and the ease in catching them. There are 1,100 miles of trout streams and a small number of enforcement […]
Fewer North Carolinians upside-down in mortgages than other states, but still reasons for concern
FROM THE NORTH CAROLINA NEWS SERVICE This year, thousands of North Carolinians will lose their homes to foreclosure. For the last five years, the Tar Heel state has seen more than 50,000 foreclosures every year, compared to about 15,000 a year before the crisis began, according to research by the Center for Responsible Lending. The […]
The Beat: Xpress wins six awards from the N.C Press Association
In the 2011 North Carolina Press Association awards, Mountain Xpress was honored in six different categories for various stories, projects and publications produced last year: • 1st place: News Feature Writing — In “Turf War: Democrats, Republicans Square Off Over Congressional Districts” (July 19, 2011), one of a series of political analyses by Xpress news […]
Six Xpress stories and projects named in 2011 N.C. Press Association awards
In the 2011 North Carolina Press Association awards, Mountain Xpress earned recognition for six stories, projects and publications, including two first-place awards.
Scenic NC’s 2012 lawsuit RE: tree-cutting for billboards
Opponents of the state’s new billboard law prepared a complaint and temporary restraining order request Feb. 29, 2012, in Wake County Superior Court. The legal action by Scenic NC, Inc., is aimed at keeping the N.C. Department of Transportation from permitting vegetation removal – primarily trees – in front of billboards and other outdoor advertising under new temporary rules set to take effect March 1.
“Our Southern Community” goes off air; creator Ned Doyle wants to hear from listeners
On the air for the past decade, “Our Southern Community” posted what could be its last show on WWNC 88.7 — or will it live on, perhaps in another form? Creator and environmentalist Ned Doyle asks for your feedback.
Buncombe County Sheriff looking for older white male in Enka RBC Bank robbery
Five bank robberies have occurred in Asheville and the surrounding area since Feb. 8, WLOS TV reports. The most recent occurred Friday morning, Feb. 24, at the Candler branch of RBC Centura. The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a white male in his 40s, pictured here.
Asheville photographer Jerry Nelson releases book on OccupyDC movement
At noon on Friday, Feb. 24, travel photojournalist Jerry Nelson will be at the Vanuatu Kava Bar to discuss his experiences and share pictures from his new coffee-table book, OccupyDC: As I See It.
LIVE: Coverage of the state water-system forum
Follow #avlh2o for live updates from Xpress reporters throughout the all-day hearing, held by Rep. Tim Moffitt’s Metropolitan Sewerage/Water System Committee.
(Elected officials wait their turn to address the House Select Committee at the Western NC Ag Center Photo by Bill Rhodes)